With the release of one of my most loved games, Ocarina of Time, coming to the 3DS in updated glory I thought I'd take a look at some screenshots and compare them to what is available on the Nintendo 64. Project64 has the nice luxury of rendering things in high definition but for the most part we will are limited by the original source material, unless you count the fantastic re-texturing projects, many that look superb. For those wondering the screenshots available here were taken from the extended trailer on IGN

I've seen a lot of screenshots, but this one in particular stands out, the sky texture is brilliantly done, mixing in a hint of clouds in the night sky with better depth. Other things to note here include the glowing effect in the moon, similarly used in the sun perhaps on the N64 version, again nice touch. Lastly the flowers rendered in the foreground, have been redone. On the N64 they used billboard textures to render these, it's not easy to tell but it would seem they are finally real objects, at least we can hope.

One bit of disappointment here is the grass, while it looks slightly better, I am always hoping for more than flat geometry, I doubt the 3DS has the graphics horse power, but individual patches of grass blades would be a nice touch.

You can see a few things in this as well that are enhanced, first the magic effect being shot has significantly more objects being rendered, and the individual objects are much larger. Notice also in the background that the textures for the paintings look much more detailed as well.

You'll notice the textures that make up link are much more detailed and and a bit more vibrant, the developer has completely redone his facial texture which gives him a more modern feel. Also at an object level link's model has been updated significantly, there's no question overall that Nintendo has put those extra triangles to good use in making him look less blocky, after all he is the main character.

Just looking at the graphics, it seems to be more of a port and update than a remake. Bill-boarded objects have been given new life, existing objects have better models and crisp modern textures. Nintendo had to walk a very tight rope in staying true to the original since this may be their most beloved game ever. With Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 3DS coming in June, they have accomplished porting a successful title to the Nintendo 3DS with significant updates. I am a fan of Ocarina of Time both for it's technical achievements and game play, it was a real treat to take a deep look at what they've changed as I've spent countless hours playing and debugging it.

Any die hard fans buying this when it comes out? Check out the video and leave your comments.

I will try my hardest to resist buying it, since I must try to limit the number of times Nintendo can sell me the same game
I already have OoT on N64, two copies + master quest on the gamecube, and it's available on the wii virtual console.
I also have Starfox 64 on N64 and Wii, I have Pokemon snap on N64 and Wii, I have the original Zelda on GBA and gamecube, etc. (this list makes me feel like I've been a very foolish consumer...)

On the other hand, OoT 3D looks like a wonderful way of keeping OoT fresh for a new generation. I'm very impressed with the way they seem to have added a lot of details that make it look much more real. The lighting, a few extra polygons, some sort of better dust effect behind Epona (and other graphical tricks I don't recognise, no doubt). I'm not sure I link Link's new bodies though - they seem much more cartoony than they were on the N64. I thought Twilight princess captured the way OoT should ideally look, and this doesn't look like that.

I really like the way PJ64 can add antialiasing and can make 4:3 games into widescreen by extending the area that's drawn. Would it be impossible, though, to have it render the image from a second camera horizontally displaced by a few game-metres? Then players could use a fancy screen or cross their eyes to make PJ64 3D. I really have no idea how difficult that might be

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Yeah as far as the modern redesign to Link it does conform to the natural enhancements in the newer picture results with some current consoles (with the detail of triangle modeling an uncompromising improvement). I agree about some of his visual looking kind of "cartoony" or stuff like the transition from Zelda 64 to Zelda GC games, really nice texture detail added overall though.

I know I will buy it once it gets out, Ive beaten Ocarina of Time on the N64 and on the pj1.7, and its always been fun, I can't wait to see what has been changed and improved. Mostly I'm going to love the notorious water temple, Seeing the new water appearance. Although I can only hope that it is possible to play on some Emulator one day, the 3DS doesn't really stand with the high Resolution on a small screen like that. But hey, its better then nothing.